Why not a HP photo printer?

[wesley762]

I see all of this talk about canon and epson printers to print photos but do people look at what its really costing you to use these printers. I have been a die hard HP guy for quite a few years because of the cost of the prints. so what am I missing out on. right now I am using a Hp photosmart 7350. why would I want to move to another and why?

on a side note I am not trying to start a war or anything just seeing if I am really missing out on something.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

I think it's because until recently HP's inkjets weren't very good for photo. With the new 7960 I think they're going to be competitive again.

[Jason Dunn]

IMO: HP print quality is "ok", but they are the slowest printers on the PLANET. Painfully, painfully slow - that's why I couldn't buy one for printing photos (though my psc2510 all-in-one does an OK job - I'll still prefer my Canon i950 for photos).

In terms of them costing less, I've never really sat down to do the math - are their inks really that much cheaper?

[Suhit Gupta]

I always found the HP print quality to be better than ok, in fact I found it to be quite good actually. Granted that the Canon i950 is fantastic, I never found that the HPs were bad. Though Lee is completely right, the 7960 sounds very good.

Suhit

[Jason Dunn]

I always found the HP print quality to be better than ok, in fact I found it to be quite good actually.

Oh, I wasn't saying that, HP print quality can be quite good - on par with Canon and Epson. The big kicker for me is speed...or lack thereof.

[Suhit Gupta]

Oh, I wasn't saying that, HP print quality can be quite good - on par with Canon and Epson. The big kicker for me is speed...or lack thereof.
Hmm, I guess that is true. Although I always compared it to the Kodak printer I had before my HP and it printed about a page every 8 minutes. So the HP was a VAST improvement :). I have been thinking of buying a new one but I print photos so rarely.

Suhit

[wesley762]

thanks for the bit of input so far. if speed is most of the issue people are having than thats not a problem for me. never been in to much of a hurry for them. and I also have a 2510 for my everyday stuff and its so nice being wireless. I am so done with wires.

[kalaban]

I have always been an Epson only person when it came to printers.
My current Epson 880 died and I waited for months for the newest Epson R300M to come out (that many people have raved about). I was so frustrated with them constantly pushing up the date that they'd be available, that I purchased a HP 7960. I have an infant son and constantly am being asked to send pictures to family members.

I have been an ANTI HP person because in the past, the customer service was an oxymoron at best. :D However, I did buy an HP 4350 Pocketpc and cusotmer service was great. So.... I took the plunge.

The 7960 is very powerful and as an ameteur digital photograhper, it prints very good pictures. I have been able to fool people by printing on glossy paper (expensive) and telling them it was done in studio. Only 1 person was able to tell that I was lying :twisted:

The view screen on the printer allows for me to print pictures on my SD card, without turning on the computer, which I really like.

I recommend people review sites like this site or CNET and TOMSHARDWARE before making a purchase.

Just my .02

[ux4484]

Speed of HP inkjet printers has always been a drag for me (back to my first Deskjet 500 monochrome), but I have to say that my HP 1215 while slow, has pretty darn good output, and putting a SM/CF card in for printing is a tad faster than from the PC. It seems to be better on ink than my previous inkjets. Of the inkjet printers I've had (Epson, Cannon, and previous HP's) it has the best, most reliable paper handling of them all. I think I've only ever had one or two jams in the (almost) 2 years I've had it.